Creamy, Garlicky NSNG Alfredo

September 4, 2018

One of the major struggles of moving into an NSNG lifestyle was that I was going to miss a lot of my ‘yummy’ foods – basically anything pasta! I made it a personal mission to convert my favorite pasta dishes to be NSNG. This is actually one of our son’s favorite dinners, and even our 9 quart Le Creuset (“Moby”) is empty after a couple days! (What are leftovers??)

There was one catch with alfredo sauce: just about all store-bought alfredo sauces had some form of sugar in them. I am finding, through my vain attempts at living this NSNG lifestyle, that sugar is very sneaky and finds itself in almost everything we eat – even when the label claims it’s ‘sugar-free’!

But that is a post for another day…

Therefore, I poured over several different alfredo sauces and pulled inspirations from one of my favorite cooks (Pioneer Woman) and some other delightful home chefs (like Jamielyn of I Heart Naptime) and altered my alfredo sauce to a taste and consistency fit for our family. It seems heavy, but with the amount of food you’re tossing to coat, it ends up being light and delish! Enjoy!

Recipe: NSNG Chicken Broccoli AlfredoServes 6-8, unless you have an 8-year-old then it’s more like 3.

Tools:

Large pot

Large Dutch Oven, or nonstick pot

Whisk

Colander

Ingredients:

Sauce:

8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), softened or room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese (1 package), room temperature

2 C. of heavy whipping cream

1-2 tsp. garlic powder OR minced garlic

¼ tsp. of Italian seasoning

Pinch each, Salt+Pep

8-16 oz. parmesan, shredded or freshly grated

Pro tip: Go for the full bag for extra thick and cheesy sauce!

Dish:

16 oz. of chicken, cooked and sliced

Pro tip: You can also use 1 bag (16 oz.) of Perdue Carved, Grilled Chicken Breast for a quicker dinner prep!

Instructions:

Fill your large pot with water, add a little bit of salt, and add to stove on High.

While waiting for the water to boil… Work on your sauce!

Heat your Dutch Oven on medium low heat.

Melt down the butter and whisk in the garlic.

Cut in cream cheese and whisk until smooth.

Gently whisk in the heavy whipping cream to avoid lumps.

Add Italian seasoning and Salt+Pep, and stir.

Bring heat to a light boil and then immediately bring down to simmer for the next 5-8 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, add pasta to the boiling water.

Pro tip: Non-grain-based pasta cooks much faster than grain-based pasta! Be sure to read the instructions on the box, and I even suggest pulling it off the heat a minute or so earlier so the pasta is al dente when you add it to the sauce!

Add the broccoli to the boiling pasta water when you have only have about 2-3 minutes left for the pasta so they finish cooking together.

While the pasta and broccoli finish, add the parmesan to the simmering sauce and fold in with the whisk until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is thickened.

Fold chicken into the sauce and lightly stir.

Drain the pasta and broccoli and immediately add to sauce.

Gently stir the pasta, broccoli, and chicken so all ingredients are integrated and covered in the sauce.

Pro tip: If the sauce is very thick, you can add a little more whipping cream or leftover pasta water to thin. The sauce WILL thicken as the meal sits!